Tag Archives: summer learning loss

Summer matters. For those months of the year when children aren’t in school, engaging educational experiences can keep them from losing the progress they made. A major challenge during these summer months is ensuring that children retain the knowledge gained during the school year by preventing the “summer slide.”

Research shows that the summer slide has a significant, cumulative impact on academic achievement, particularly for children in low-income households. The summer slide is a key factor behind a stunning statistic: by the end of 5th grade, disadvantaged children are, on average, nearly three grade levels behind their more affluent peers in reading (source: The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading). And, according to the National Summer Learning Association, summer learning loss accounts for two-thirds of the achievement gap in reading between children from low- and middle-income households by 9th grade.

But there is hope. While the school year will start before we know it, there’s still time for children to reinforce what they learned the previous year and prepare for the next one. Engaging and effective learning experiences can help prevent the summer slide by getting children excited to continue learning over their summer break.

This study examined the impact of ABCmouse Early Learning Academy on summer learning loss (known as “summer slide”) in a diverse sample of 999 rising first graders.

Results showed that ABCmouse helped prevent summer slide in reading for students who regularly used ABCmouse for at least 70 minutes per week over the summer. Students who met this usage threshold demonstrated literacy gains equivalent to the benefits of one month of academic instruction, while children who scored below the median at the beginning of the study experienced even greater gains from using ABCmouse.